The annual Fair at New Boston is celebrating 35 years in existence. The historical 'look back in time' event keeps growing according to organizers who say the fair became an annual event soon after successful bicentennial celebrations took place in the area.
Pam Cottrel, marketing director for the George Rogers Clark Heritage Association and the Fair at New Boston, says roughly 600 costumed history lovers, vendors and artisans will help create an authentic recreation of pioneer life 200 years ago.
"This event has just gotten better and better and more accurate over these last 35 years," she says. "We have quite a few educators and I think educators being able to have the freedom to educate as well as they wish they could have when they're back in the schools. Here they have unlimited time, and a really nice historical place they be as creative they want to be."
The country's history is being fiercely debated in daily headlines across the country but Cottrel says events like the Fair at New Boston provide context to who we are as a country.
"We know that people just need to know where they came from, why certain things are they way they are and understand who the people who were here before us, how they got here, the challenges that they met... and how they moved forward, and that helps us with guidance today."
Fair-goers will travel back in time to a period of history that runs from about 1790 - 1810 and organizers promise authentic food choices, music, entertainment, and pioneer-related merchandise displayed by vendors and artisans to round out the experience.
The Fair at New Boston takes place just west of Springfield on State Route 4. Gates will open at 10 a.m. - and close at 6 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, Labor Day weekend, rain or shine.
Find directions and more information at their website. Pre-sale tickets are available through Eventbrite. There is a 'no pets policy' for the park, and organizors say there is ample, free parking.
